The Strand Theater is a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

theater located at 400 Clifton Avenue in Lakewood Township,

Ocean County, New Jersey Ocean County is a county located along the Jersey Shore in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its county seat is Toms River.National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on April 22, 1982, for its significance in architecture, art, and theater. With

History

The theater was designed by

Thomas W. Lamb Thomas White Lamb (May 5th, 1870 – February 26th, 1942) was a Scottish-born, American architect. He was one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas in the 20th century. Career Born in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, Thomas W. La ...

, and built for the Ferber Amusement Company in 1922 as a place for pre-Broadway runs of shows. The first event at the theater was a showing of a silent film, '' Peacock Alley'' starring

Mae Murray Mae Murray (born Marie Adrienne Koenig; May 10, 1885 – March 23, 1965) was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "Th ...

.Blay, Joyce
octogenarian still going strong"
CentralJersey.com, October 31, 2002. Accessed December 2, 2022. "Silent screen star Mae Murray inaugurated the Strand with her performance in the movie ''Peacock Alley'', followed by a series of five vaudeville acts." The next show was a pre-Broadway run of "The Devine Cook" starring

Florence Reed Florence Reed (January 10, 1883 – November 21, 1967) was an American stage and film actress. She is remembered for several outstanding stage productions, including ''The Shanghai Gesture'', ''The Lullaby'', ''The Yellow Ticket'' and ''The ...

. Within a few years of its opening, the Strand began to host

shows and silent films. Among the stars who appeared on the Strand's stage early in their careers included

Burns and Allen Burns and Allen was an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a successful comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio, and television audiences for over forty years. The duo ...

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

, and

Ray Bolger Raymond Wallace Bolger (January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian and stage performer (particularly musical theatre) who started in the silent-film era. Bolger was a major Broadway performer in ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the theater became a cinema house, and omitted the vaudeville acts. As suburban multiplex

movie theaters A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

were built, the single screen theater lost its audience. During its economic decline it became an

adult movie theater An adult movie theater is a euphemistic term for a movie theater dedicated to the exhibition of pornographic films. Adult movie theaters show pornographic films primarily for either a respectively heterosexual or homosexual audience. For the patro ...

in the 1970s. In 1981 the theater was added to the

List of Registered Historic Places in New Jersey Image:New Jersey counties map.png, 180px, New Jersey counties (clickable map) poly 181 634 243 566 259 577 263 584 263 597 266 600 273 600 281 605 283 606 285 608 288 609 290 609 292 612 293 616 297 617 299 616 302 618 305 621 310 622 311 621 3 ...

. The theater received a $2.4 million grant from the

New Jersey Economic Development Authority The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) is an independent government entity in the U.S. state of New Jersey dedicated to broadening and expanding the state's economic base. The EDA creates public-private partnerships to provide access ...

in 1994 for restoration of its Neo-classical and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

interiors. The theater serves as the Ocean County Center for the Arts.Music & Performance
Township of Lakewood. Accessed December 2, 2022. "Total renovation of the theater began in 1993 and was completed in 2003. The Strand is on the NJ Register and National Register of Historic Places and serves as the Ocean County Center for the Arts."

References

External links

Official website
{{NRHP in Ocean County, New Jersey 1922 establishments in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Ocean County, New Jersey Lakewood Township, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Ocean County, New Jersey Theatres completed in 1922 Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Thomas W. Lamb buildings New Jersey Register of Historic Places